Jim Butcher
Jim Butcher lives in Oklahoma with his wife and son and a houseful of computers. He's also the author of
Storm Front, Fool Moon, Grave Peril, Summer Knight and Death Masks, all part of The Dresden Files

Harry Dresden, the only openly-practicing wizard and private investigator in Chicago, is on the job once again. But
for him, even the most routine of jobs are fraught with danger and the extraordinarily unusual.

"An errand is getting a tank of gas or picking up a carton of milk or
something. It is not getting chased by flying purple pyromaniac gorillas
hurling incendiary poo."

Over the past few years, he's tangled with everything from vampires to werewolves to demons, and helped to save Chicago,
and sometimes the entire world, from destruction. He's been used as a pawn by forces far greater than he can imagine,
stared into the abyss, and laughed at death. He's made some strange allies, and strange enemies along the way. But old
enemies lurk in the shadows, and some history is about to come back and bite him in a very sensitive spot.

"The Lone Ranger impersonation. You get pounded to scrap every
time you turn around and you barely get by on the gumshoe work.
You live in that dank little cave of a basement. Alone. You've got
no woman, no friends, and you drive this piece of crap. Your life is
kind of pathetic."

One of Harry's erstwhile acquaintances, Thomas Raith, a vampire of the White Court, sums it up perfectly. Not just a
workaholic, Harry's a "white hat" personality, driven to do the right thing for all the noblest and most foolhardy of
reasons. Unfortunately, it has wreaked havoc on his social and love lives. All he really has left is the job. So when
Thomas offers him an actual paying gig on behalf of a notorious adult film director, Harry takes it. The job seems
fairly simple: who's calling down deadly curses upon women associated with the director's new movie? But things are
never simple in Harry's world. The White Court vampires feed off of the energy produced by lust and sex, so clearly,
there's a connection between Thomas and the movie. So what role does the rest of his nasty, manipulative,
all-too-seductive family play in the murderous events surrounding the movie? And what secret is the King of the White
Court willing to kill to protect? And how does it all relate to Harry?

That's not all. Some old enemies from the vampiric Black Court, the truly deadly "real" vampires of myth and legend,
are in town to see Harry dead. No, scratch that, to see him very dead. When Harry gets wind of their presence,
he decides it's time to go on the offensive for a change. To that end, he gathers some allies, including his old
mentor, a high-priced hit man, and Lieutenant Karrin Murphy, Director of Special Investigations for Chicago
Police. But once he has got his forces together, the sparks immediately begin to fly, as old history rears its ugly head.

Not one, but two major showdowns with the heavy hitters of the vampire Courts will drive Harry to the breaking
point, test the loyalty of his friends and allies, and unlock some valuable secrets to his past... secrets which
could change everything about how he looks at himself, and how he approaches the world. A major milestone in the
ongoing saga of The Dresden Files, Blood Rites is the culmination of years of setup, creating
as many new questions as it answers, and marking a transition in the personal journey of Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden.

What's not to love about this series? Harry's self-destructive blend of nobility, stubbornness, and masochism makes him
a vulnerable, yet compelling narrator. He's a throwback to the noir detectives of old, willing to take any punishment
to see the job done, because he can, because he has to, and because he won't risk seeing anyone else hurt. Karrin
Murphy continues to provide that cold splash of common sense and reality, though her own brand of overcompensating
(being a small female in a macho man kind of job) renders her just as blind as Harry to certain truths. Their
chemistry, two parts friendly antagonism to one part unspoken loyalty, makes them a joy to watch in action. Jim Butcher
further populates the series with a host of memorable secondary characters: Thomas, the sex vampire with an unexpected
fondness for his girlfriend/food; Ebenezar, whose good-old-boy country attitude hides a ruthless side; Bob the Skull,
Harry's lab assistant/familiar, a spirit of intellect with a taste for romance novels and strip clubs; and Kincaid,
the cold-blooded killer whose only loyalty is to money.

What I like about Butcher is that he manages to keep several plots going at once, and there's always something on the
back burner as well. The ongoing mystery regarding Harry's parentage and history has slowly been spun out over six
books, dropping hints and clues along the way. The revelations here only shed light on some of the big picture; there's
still much left to be seen, as later twists show. And there's a feeling of continuity and growth, the clear sense that
while each book is capable of standing on its own, they all tie into something much larger, that Butcher knows exactly
what he's doing, and doesn't forget anything for long. Enemies left alive are bound to come back. Allies who fade off
screen for a while return when last expected. Even tiny subplots have long-term repercussions.

As always, there's that sense of urgency to the story: once the action starts, Harry gets very little downtime, his
energy, resources, and creativeness stretched as far as they'll go, in scenes so vivid they practically leap off the
page. Once I started reading, I just couldn't stop. I know I'll regret finishing Blood Rites so quickly as I wait for the
next in the series, but I was sucked in.

The Dresden Files is a series I would, could, have, and will continue to recommend for as long as my breath
holds out. It takes the best elements of urban fantasy, mixes it with some good old-fashioned noir mystery, tosses in a
dash of romance and a lot of high-octane action, shakes, stirs, and serves. Blood Rites may be the best book in
the series yet, and that's saying something. Dresden fans won't want to miss this, and new readers are encouraged to
start with Storm Front, right now, especially since the SciFi Channel has greenlit a television-movie based
on the series, which could hopefully lead into a full series. My only complaint is ... what do I read now?

Michael M Jones enjoys an addiction to books, for which he's glad there is no cure. He lives with his very patient wife (who
doesn't complain about books taking over the house... much), eight cats, and a large plaster penguin that once tasted
blood and enjoyed it. A prophecy states that when Michael finishes reading everything on his list, he'll finally
die. He aims to be immortal.